Like A River
by morestorii
Summary: His name is Richard John "Dick" Grayson, but if anyone asks, it's River Zucco. -Trigger Warning/See AN for details-
1. Chapter 1

He's sitting alone and in the dark. Atop an uncomfortable bed, he sits cross-legged with a chunky laptop laid across his lap. On his face is a tired, weary affect and he stays silent as he types away.

The door swings open and he immediately sits taller, swallowing. He says nothing, waiting for the arrival to speak.

"Pack your things, _kid_."

If anyone asks, he'd say he's been expecting this. It's routine by now. So, instead of asking why, he asks where.

"I'm thinkin' Central City. With the Flash."

•••

His name is Richard John "Dick" Grayson, but if anyone asks, it's River Zucco. He's only fourteen but his mind is older, having seen things no one his age should have ever seen. As unfair as it is, it's only life for him and he's forced to deal with it.

As he finishes placing a charger in his oversized duffel bag, he looks up and out the lonesome window to his right. Peering out and past the curtains, he sees a city. The building he's in is a crude apartment in poor condition, but he's just thankful to have somewhere to live anyway.

He sips up his bags and swings it over his shoulder. It's a bit heavy but it's nothing he can't handle. So, he turns around and leaves the room.

It was dusty and cramp anyway.

"Outside," says a voice to his left. He moves his eyes to look over in that direction. "There's a car. Get in it."

"Yes, sir," he says in a voice too quick. The man glares down at him for a moment before turning in his heels and disappearing down the hall.

Quietly, escaping the building, he grips the strap of his bag tighter. Again, he's running. They're running. Always. He knows it as it's always like this, even if they hadn't done anything wrong for once.

Always running.

Like a river.

He shakes his head quietly, opening a car door. He climbs inside the vehicle and ignore the stale air.

•••

It takes two days and one night of nonstop driving to get to Central City. They ditch the car on the outskirts of the city. It's a thirty-five minute walk to the house that his guardian has chosen. The house looks nice enough on the outside but the door must be locked and it must be unfinished inside. There's no way that this was in the budget.

"Whaddya think?" asks the man.

"It's nice," he says in reply. His voice... it's tense and awkward. He doesn't move his head but he casts his gaze onto the man. Then he walks forward. "I'll be inside."

The doorknob is a little too jiggly but the door opens smoothly. Inside, there's a distinct lack of furniture. He doesn't care though because they won't be staying long. He knows it.

A river. That's what they are.

And that's his name to the world.

"You know what to do," says the man from his spot on the sidewalk. "Go on, _River_."

Looking back, blue eyes meet peculiar ones before they part ways. The teen disappears inside, shutting the door behind him. Once alone, he fists his hands and stays there for a while. He's shaking, only minutely though. His blue eyes are wide and just a little too frightened. His head hangs before he marches forward in search of his room.

* * *

Whoopdedoo. I got a new story idea if you couldn't tell. Smh. I actually thought of this a few weeks ago but I didn't jot it down. It miraculously came back to me recently. I guess you can think of this as a _Book of Henry_ or whatever kind of AU—maybe. I only know the basis of the plot. Regardless, I don't own that. Or the DC Universe. At all.

Guess what? Unless my English teacher didn't upload final grades in time, I got all A's this quarter! As a freshman (in high school) with 4 Honors classes, I'm very proud of myself.

The plot will be revealed as chapters are uploaded. Be warned, there's possible light slash or close bromance and maybe Reverse!BatFamily as those two are my usual go-to's. No promises though. Oh, also, **future** **reference to abuse but nothing explicit.**

As always, chapters following this should be 1,000-1,500 words, depending on how I feel. To my TAoD and _Trouvaille_ readers, I hope to update after Thanksgiving. Speaking of which, have a lovely holiday and stay safe! :)

Review please? ;)

Also, I made an allusion of sorts to _Hamilton_. :))


	2. Chapter 2

**Trigger Warning: Implied Abuse. Ends at "~•~"**

* * *

Nighttime approaches and by then, his laptop is powered down and put to the side. He found a room in the furthest corner of the house as he wants to hide away as best he can. He wants to leave. Escape is futile though.

He's tried. Once. Years ago.

And what a mistake that was.

Sighing, he peers out the shades of the window beside his head. He sees a lovely house, glowing warmly through its own windows. His lip curls downwards but he says nothing. Instead, he turns his attention to the door as he waits.

It's quiet but it's there. A door opens and he sucks in a breath and closes his eyes. Like the constant moving, this is routine. And it's something he can't control. With one more breath out and one in, he resigns.

His door opens. He hears the creak and his eyes snap open. The lights don't turn on and he's trapped in total darkness; however, he swears that he can see those eyes glowing.

" _River._ "

~•~

It's a nice sunny day, Wally thinks as his uncle pulls into the driveway. With a backpack swung over his left shoulder, he hops out of the car. It's a long weekend and he's been granted permission to board with his aunt and uncle for the weekend.

"I'll get the mail," he yells, jogging over to the mailbox. He pulls it open, finding a few letters stuffed inside. Then, when he turns around, he notices the For Sale sign is no longer present on the lawn of the neighboring house.

He walks over to his uncle who's still getting out of the car as he has a handful of groceries to take inside.

"Did someone move in next door?" Wally asks, nodding towards the vacant-looking house.

Barry raises his brows and looks over at the lawn. Seeing a lack of advertisement, he frowns and shrugs in the same minute. "Huh. Maybe someone did. How about you and I make a pie or something for them?"

Wally looks at his uncle, feeling a little dubious. "Can you even bake?"

Looking affronted, the scientist says, "Course I can. Your Aunt I can confirm that I'm the better baker. It's edible science, kid."

The teen laughs at the proclamation. "That's one way to look at it," he says. "And pies are cliché. Let's bake brownies."

"Good idea."

•••

The bell rings. He freezes on the last step, staring like a deer caught in headlights. Quietly, he creeps down the final step and goes over to the door on silent feet.

Albeit hesitantly, he peers through a side window, making sure to stay hidden in the soft shadows of the house. He sees two people. A teenage redhead and a blond man. He purses his lips and eyes the plastic-wrap-covered plate.

Sighing, he slowly opens the door, hiding partially behind it.

"Yes?" he says, keeping his voice low.

This greeting doesn't deter his guests. The teen holds out a plate of brownies. "The name's Wally and this is my uncle, Barry. Who are you?"

No one, he wants to say. He holds back on that and, instead, says, "River. River Zucco."

"Cool," Wally says with a friendly smile. "We made these for you. I tasted one. I promise they're not poisonous."

Narrowing his eyes minutely, he relents after a few seconds of looking at those bright smiles. He opens the door a little wider and moves so he can take the plate. Faster than he can comprehend, there's a hand on his wrist.

Barry is staring at his face with a concerned frown. "That's some bruise you got there."

A hand flies up to his cheek and slender fingers barely touch the painful galaxy on his face. He manages a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I fell. Not used to being here and miscalculated the amount of steps."

Wally doesn't look all too convinced but he smiles anyway. "Do you need an ice pack? I'm sure Aunt I won't mind if you borrow one."

"Nothing needed. Thank you, though." He takes the plate. Had Wally's hands not been holding the other end, it would've dropped. "I have to go now."

"Oh, all right," Wally says, frowning the tiniest bit. "I'll see you around? Maybe Aunt I will let you eat dinner with us some time soon."

"Don't like eating in front of other people. Sorry." And with that, the door is closed and the blue-eyed boy heaves a sigh. He looks down at the plate and averts his eyes back to the door before heading to the kitchen.

There's a trashcan in a drawer underneath the sink so he empties the brownies into the disposal and makes a mental note to take the plate back before his guardian gets back. So, he takes the delicate china with him and goes into his room.

•••

"He seems nice," Wally says in an uncertain voice before he and his uncle turn around and head back.

"Sure does," Barry says in a firmer voice. Though, there's a confused expression painted on his face. "I hope he's okay. Hey, kid, why don't you invite him over tomorrow? Gotta get Iris' approval first."

"I wonder what his parents are like... or parent... or"—he looks over at his uncle—"guardian. Guardians. You know what I mean."

Barry nods in agreement before he opens up the front door. With a smile, he says, "How about you and me go on a run later?"

Wally snickers. "Where are you thinking?"

"A few laps around the city. You in?"

Because they're speedsters, a few laps around the city should be a piece of cake. And because they're superheroes, taking down the bad guys is their civil duty. More importantly, it's because they're family that they do this together.

Quicker than running water, the two head off to the kitchen to build up some energy so that they don't tire out too quickly.

•••

From behind his bedroom window, he watches the sunshine duo disappear into their home. He finds himself ensnared in the bitter thorns of darkness, trapped and no way out. He's used to it though.

* * *

Hello! I'm going to do this anyway but how many of you want and/or need me to put a quick bolded Trigger Warning at the beginning of certain chapters? Yes, there's abuse in this story. No, I will most likely have the actual abuse be done off-screen because I refuse to write those scenes in detail.

So, this story will focus more on Dick, Wally, Barry, and Iris vs Zucco. It's just two superheroes saving someone in civilian status.

I didn't expect the amount interest in my story. :0 I didn't think that many people would want to read it if I'm being honest.

Review please! Have a great day! Thank you for taking time to read this. It's highly appreciated. :)


	3. Chapter 3

He shuts his laptop. Online classes are done and over with for the day. Quietly, he sighs before climbing off the stool and sliding his laptop off the surface of the kitchen island.

A few moments later and a few steps up, he's back in his room. He closes the door behind him and climbs onto the bed. The sheets are cheap and dirty but he doesn't complain as he settles. He opens his laptop once more.

On orders from the man, he's to scour whatever he can for information on a given list of individuals. Routine. Every city, every town, every _time._ It matters not where they go but who they find.

Despite how iffy he feels about his job, he likes it. It's fun working with everything involved in this rather daunting task. He has a knack for hacking as it's called.

Years ago, when he was nine or ten, he had been gifted with a laptop. One of Zucco's subordinates in one city had given him quite a number of lessons. It had been luck that he has the skills.

He begins by pulling up an email sent to him from a burner email. There's a collection of names on the list. He looks at the first one with curious eyes.

 _Allen, Bartholomew._

•••

Later that day, when he's back downstairs, there's a knock on the door. It's not Zucco and he knows that. The man would have an aggressive knock, not some sort of soft-sounding rapping.

Picturing a certain someone with hair the color of sunsets and another with a head of midday sun, he finds the will to actually walk over and open the door. Deep down, he knows that he shouldn't do this. It's against the rules. He's not supposed to make friends. Not that he wants any.

But rules are meant to be broken.

He opens it, hiding his bruise in the shadows. It's the redhead. Wally. Freckles and all.

"You," he says in a monotone voice, blue eyes nervously dancing. He hopes that Zucco doesn't come back anytime soon. The man doesn't need to know that his little helper has been helping himself to some outside socialization, even if it isn't completely of his own freewill.

"Hey, River, what's up?"

He says nothing. Maybe the older boy will go away if he continues to stare. He's not exactly sure how to reply to the inquiry.

Instead of leaving, Wally just raises his brows and leans just a tad bit closer. "Nothing much, huh?" Then, he stands straight and offers a friendly smile. It seems to be quite the accessory on him. "Wanna come over for dinner? I mean, you're probably still getting settled in. Whoever you live with is free to come over. Aunt I and Uncle B really wanna get to know you better."

Blue eyes narrow minutely. Like sunset boy's smile, he has a signature. He tends to narrow his eyes a lot. "No."

This reply doesn't do anything to steer away the older boy. It does, however, make his smile ease into an awkward, kind of put-off one. Still, Wally tries again. "Are you sure? No offense, but, it barely looks like you have anything settled. I mean, you're kind of sitting in the dark? And, like, you know—"

"Yes," he says, closing the door a little more. The action will do nothing but it provides him with minimal comfort. "You should leave."

"Can I at least come in? Or maybe you can come out? 'Cause like, you look like you could use some Vitamin D or, uh..."

"Why?" he asks, frowning. Before Wally can answer, he closes the door. The lock is turned and he backs up against the door, sighing through his nose.

A mumbled proclamation of _idiot_ falls out of his mouth. He returns to the daunting task of staring at a blacked-out laptop screen. In the back of his mind, he idly wonders if Zucco would be willing to get him a new laptop. This one runs too slowly and it makes hacking more time-consuming.

•••

Zucco comes home and it's already past midnight at this point. When he arrives, he spots a figure sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall to the right of the bathroom. He stalks on over and frowns.

"River," he says.

Blue eyes open immediately, and, in the darkness, peer straight into the eyes of the tall man.

"Up."

The boy rises, almost stumbling but not quite. He doesn't drop eye contact with Zucco but there's definitely a quiver in his stance. Though, it's almost a sure thing that he would deny it.

"You should have been in bed," Zucco says.

"I know."

"Yet you aren't in bed."

"I know."

•••

Barry is sitting at the table, having a nice breakfast with his wife and nephew. After he gulps down a glass of orange juice, he speaks.

"So, River's about your age, right, Walls? Maybe a year or two younger?" he says.

Wally nods. "Yeah. He's, like, fourteen."

From her spot, Iris pitches in some two cents. "A little small for that age, isn't he? You should invite him to dinner again. I don't think anyone got home until around one-in-the-morning and growing boys shouldn't have to stay up that late."

"And what were you doing up at one?" Wally asks, raising his brows.

"I just needed to use the bathroom, that's all," Iris says in reply. She looks over at her boys. "I was heading to the kitchen for a drink when I saw someone walking up to the door outside River's house. Though, it was dark so maybe I was mistaken."

The teen hums in reply. As he shoves a slice of his pancake in his mouth, he thinks back to yesterday. He's a little surprised, really. He hadn't expected River to show up at all. After all, the boy had given him a negative response.

Admittedly, it had been a great surprise when there was a tentative knock on the door. Wally was just lucky to have been walking by the front door when it sounded.

It had also come as a surprise when Barry held back on his portions, insisting that River eat more. Wally had followed his uncle's example. True, they did have a guest to entertain so inhaling the entire dinner table may not be the best of ideas but, even so, the two managed to eat enough to satisfy their speedster appetites.

"Whatever the case, maybe we should go over and meet whoever lives with River," Barry suggests. His eyes are just a shade darker than normal, but maybe that's just the light.

"How about we make some breakfast for him?" Iris is already getting up to butter the pan and prepare more batter. "Maybe we can bring it over."

"Definitely bring it over," Wally pipes up. Then, he frowns. "Though, I'm not sure. I got a glimpse inside of the house. There's not much inside. So, maybe he won't wanna invite us in."

Barry shrugs. "Doesn't matter. As long as he gets the food I'll be happy."

The family returns to eating. Though, Iris busies herself with whipping up batter for some extra fluffy pancakes this round. She mentally tacks off just what fruit she has. Hopefully, River isn't allergic to anything.

She tells her boys to remind her about bringing over an ice pack. Or at least a sandwich bag with ice in it for easy disposal. The bruise on his cheek had sent jolts of worry through her last night.

She and Barry exchange a look as Wally indulges more in his meal.

•••

When he awakens, Zucco is already far gone. He swallows, tasting the bitter remains of bile. He had eaten himself sick unwillingly as there had been insistence on him eating more. He wonders why he went anyway.

* * *

Ayyy, I'm back. I have no idea how well-written this chapter is.

I've got two new story ideas. One is a non-superhero AU (or is it...?) that's based on _Wild Child_. And the other is based on _Split_. It's yet another non-superhero AU where Dick is kidnapped.

I'd delve into the explanations but I'm using my data right now so I don't wanna risk using it all. :P Whoops. Hehe.

So, yes, he actually did have dinner with Wally and his aunt and uncle. I'll leave the reason why for your imaginations to figure out for now. And, yes, he has a laptop for a reason. Did you really think Zucco would leave him with a laptop that grants him access to the outside world? And unsupervised? Haha.


	4. Chapter 4

He peers into the mirror. He doesn't recognize the blue of his eyes so he quickly averts them, wishing he could place a cloth overtop the reflective surface. Gargling the last bit of mouthwash he had left and swishing it around in his mouth, he makes a mental note to see if Zucco left any money. The man knows it's around this time that his assistant needed money to buy any necessities.

When he's done with his dental hygiene, he splashes water onto his face and pats it dry. Then, he leaves, finding contentment now that he doesn't taste vomit. He ignores the grumbling in his stomach. He knows that Zucco has yet to buy any food and only has bottled water.

A bit of searching turns up a crumpled receipt with a message on the blank side laying on top of about thirty dollars in folded fives and tens. He sighs and finds his freshest clothes, which apparently are tan cargo shorts and a dark blue sweatshirt. He throws on a pair of battered pair of converse that are a faded red and opens the front door.

On the porch is a plate of pancakes, a bowl of fresh fruit, and a sandwich bag filled with ice. The dishes of food are covered in plastic wrap. He blinks and looks over at the home next-door. Somehow, he doesn't miss two emerald eyes peering out from a window on the top floor.

His ears burn and there's a dusting of red on his cheeks. Quickly, he pulls his hood up and picks up the gifts. There's a voice telling him that it's charity and pity but he doesn't want Zucco to happen upon this sight. He leaves the dishes in a drawer in his room and tossed the ice in there too. The fruit will most likely become spoiled but the pancakes will, at most, be cold and the ice melted.

Leaving is the next thing he does as soon as he hides the food. This time, he misses the frown the redhead has because he doesn't look at the window again.

•••

How rude.

It seems like this store has a vendetta against people on the short side wanting to promote dental hygiene. He's only about 5'2.5", which is a little embarrassing but it's not like there's many people in his life at this point to tease and prod him about his short stature.

Obviously, Zucco is far above teasing. It's not the man's style. And he's not much of a family guy either.

"So high," he mutters.

"Need any help?"

He spins on his heel and, when he looks up a few inches, he's met with the face of sunshine boy. Again, freckles and all.

What is he supposed to say? He takes a few seconds to think, hoping the other boy will say something else. When Wally doesn't, he says only the most logical of things one can say in this situation. "Are you stalking me?"

Wally blinks. Once and then twice. Then, he laughs. That damned smile appears on his face and it takes a few seconds for Wally to calm down. "You're funny."

"No. I'm serious."

Cheeks taking on the same color as strawberries, Wally finds himself stuttering, grasping at words he can not obtain. He manages to find something to say after a few minutes of the blue-eyed wonder staring at him with the most impassive expression ever.

"Aunt I wanted me to go buy some, uh, milk."

"This is not the dairy aisle."

Wally chuckles weakly. "Yeah. It's not." He scratches the back of his neck and sticks a hand in one pocket of his jeans. "So, uh, you need any help?"

"... Yes."

The redhead brushes past him and looks up at the display. "So, whatcha need?"

"Up top. To your right. Mouthwash. Green one."

•••

He puts away all that he bought, which wasn't much, leaving the plastic bag and receipt on the counter so that Zucco will know where he went and what he bought. When he's back upstairs in his room, he remembers the food that had been left on the porch. He grimaces and pulls it out of the drawer.

The fruit doesn't look as bad as he thought but there's no way he'll eat that. The pancakes? Appetizing as ever but probably lacking the warmth that pancakes always have.

Finding himself no longer hungry, he grabs the dishes and empties the contents into the garbage bin along with the ice. He makes sure to throw some wet paper towels on top so, if questioned, he can lie and say he decided to wipe up the place a bit. Then, as he steps outside to bring back the dishes, he decides to return the favor and leave them on the porch.

Before anyone can come to the door after he knocks, he dashed back to the house. The door is slammed behind him. He lets out a breath of relief and makes his way back to his lonely room.

He's hankering for freedom. Earlier, he could've left. Gone. Run away. He didn't though. He won't. There's no point in running away. It's not like he's afraid or anything.

Right. He has a job to do.

"Merde," he says, pulling out his laptop. He logs in and jumps into the task.

He's supposed to be doing extra-deep background checks on the given list of people. As clean as those people may seem, there's almost always a big secret hidden. It's his job to find these secrets out, report to Zucco, and sit back.

Almost everyone on the list has been done, save for a few that he has yet to get to. There's one person who has caught his eye. Bartholomew Allen, better known as Barry Allen, or, in his case, the man next door.

The man's record is completely clean and there's close to nothing about the man, which is suspicious. There's absolutely no way the man isn't hiding something. He won't believe it. No person on this forsaken planet is that innocent.

"Merde," he says again. He's still getting absolutely nothing. He's not supposed to be getting nothing. There's supposed to be something so where is it? Once more, he says the word and moves on.

•••

"He asked me if I was _stalking_ him."

Barry blinks once, then twice. After that, he's sent himself into peals of laughter. It's a mirror of Wally's reaction to that inquiry. This time, however, Wally's not laughing. No, the redhead is grimacing and his face is growing redder and redder by the minute.

"It's not funny!" he whines.

"It really is, kid," Barry said in between his laughter.

Wally sighs. "Uncle Barry, just, please, shut up. You're the one who told me to follow him!"

When the man's able to speak, he says, "I'm not the one who looked like a stalker though." Seeing the look his nephew is giving him, Barry lets out one last chuckle. "So, how about we start patrol early today?"

* * *

Heyheyhey, it's currently 1 am and I am so sleepy but I told myself I wouldn't go to sleep without finishing this or starting an essay draft due at 11:59 pm tomorrow, er, today.

So, I've gone back and edited the previous chapters. It's nothing big but I needed to do so because of spelling errors and so that some of the dialogue fits better with some of my ideas. Feel free to look back at those chapters.

Okay, so, I decided to watch _Book of Henry_ because, you know, I said I was inspired to write this by it. And, **spoilers sweetie** : Well, damn, I... okay. It was better than I had anticipated and holy schnitzel? Like, a few minutes in, I realized something was wrong with Henry because of the music and he took so many pills that time and then they go and have him die? I actually cried because he had so much to live for and I literally never cry. And all the little details (e.g. Peter sleeping in Henry's bed, quoting Henry's words, etc.) made me so sad.

Okay, **spoilers over** with. So, I'm getting my laptop later today and I am so excited. Now, I can finish my essay and my maths project without having to use my brother's computer.

Btw, whenever you see ~•~, that marks the beginning and/or end of a scene with a Trigger Warning. A disclaimer will also appear in bold at the beginning of the chapter.

Anywho, thank you for taking time out of your day to read this!


	5. Announcements

Hello, hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? Not many of you may know this, but I am still writing, mind you. In fact, I'm typing this up to talk about my stories. :)

Haha, nope. I'm not deleting them. I am, however, moving all my stories to ao3 under the username of **astorii** as I've come to like that website better than this one. I'll be rewriting and reuploading each chapter of my stories so that I may get a "fresh" start on the other website.

In addition to that announcement, I'll be leaving the States in late May and won't be returning until late June or early July. Seeing as I'll be on vacation, I'll take a break from uploading, but not from writing.

I truly hope that you will all consider checking me out on ao3, regardless of whether you have an account on there or not. I've been with FFN since 2012 or 2013 and I'd like to move on and take a break. I'll still be available on this site if you wish to PM me.

Anywho, thank you! I'm so sorry if any of you got excited at the "update." Have a nice day/night!


End file.
